How to quit your job?

Are you beginning to feel desperate to quit your job? If so, this blog post is for you!

I have recently quit my 9-5 job without another job lined up. I am in a position where I don't need to rush to find another job and can instead try to make my 'side hustles' work. To get to this point, I followed the steps below.

Step 1: Making a decision

I should just say that if you hate your current job then maybe moving to another job is sensible. Take some time to figure out why it is you actually want to leave. Is it because you don't get on with your boss or maybe there's a part of your job you are struggling with. Set some clear goals for yourself about what it is you want to do instead of working in your current role... basically don't just leave on a whim.

If you've decided you want or need to leave your job but either don't want to get another job because maybe you want to spend time travelling or trying to start your own business or whatever or maybe you just want to leave your job soon but don't want the pressure of finding another job to start straight away then you've already done step 1 which is the making the decision to leave however there are a few more things you need to know and prepare for financially.

Step 2: Working out how much money is needed to quit.

I guess to begin we should talk about how much money you actually need to quit.

Well this question really depends. It depends on your lifestyle, your financially outgoings, your savings and how long you are planning to be without a stable income for.

The first thing you need to do is decide on a plan. Are you going to be out of work for 1 month, 1 year or are you wanting to try a business venture for a year but are not sure whether that will bring in money? For me, my plan was simple. I was going to leave my full time job with no job lined up however I did have a very very insufficient small income from the adsense on my main channel videos and also I set up a small business before I left my job however have not been making any substantial money through that. Saying this, it's my goal to make these hobbies the way I financially sustain myself in the future and really believe in these and now I'm not working 9-5 I'm putting all my energy and effort into making these work! So time will tell. Also, I've always said when I leave my job and try to make my side hustles work (if you will), there will be a large period of time where these side hustles are not making anywhere near enough money to even cover rent so I have planned to utilise some savings first but then am open to finding a part time job to get by.

Once you know how long you will be without a stable income for, you need to next figure out how much that period of time without an income will cost you.

To do this you need to figure out how much your necessities and lifestyle costs. Now, cutting back costs in the lead up to leaving your job is something I believe is key but we will get onto that soon. Firstly, write down all of your outgoings. This includes housing, utility bills, food, subscriptions, phone costs, car payments and petrol etc etc. You need to include everything. Also be very honest with yourself and decide how much you spend for non necessities. So these are things like coffee and going out and shopping etc. You don't need to live on the breadline to be able to afford your lifestyle and leave your job but what you do need to do is be aware of what you spend and plan for it.

Now if you spend for arguments sake $2,000 dollars a month including necessities and non-necessities and you plan to not have a stable income for 6 months then at the VERY minimum you should have $12,000 saved. HOWEVER, having said this, I do not recommend it. I would always overestimate your outgoings and not allow yourself to get to a point where you are struggling or on the verge of debt. I would be giving yourself a buffer zone because you don't know if you will be able to find a job as soon as you need one or you cannot predict if your car will need repairs and so on. To combat this, I would add 25% onto your monthly outgoings so for the example above I would be looking at having $15,000 rather than $12,000. It's obviously great if you have money in investments and assets but when it comes to leaving your job the money you calculated you need needs to be accessible. You need to be able to get to this money to pay for bills etc.

I did this and made sure I had enough money before leaving however I have always saved so for me I was able to leave without having to work for another 7 months first but if you know you want to leave and need to save another $5000 you can figure out how long that will take you and then at least you have a date and a figure to work towards.

Step 3: Cut down expenses.

This leads me onto the next thing you should do. This is to cut expenses down. This one will benefit you in terms of saving more money faster to leave your job but also once you've left your job it is only a positive having lower expenses. Theres many way to budget and lower living costs but for me I downsized and rented a smaller cheaper property which saved money in rent, associated taxes and bills and utility costs. I cut money from my food bill and sold some things when downsizing that I no longer needed. In the UK you need a tv license to watch live TV this cost around $220 dollars for the year but I decided to not get one of these in my new property to save money and instead watch netflix, youtube and online services instead. You can also look to cut back and budget your lifestyle if you're finding you spend a lot of money on discretionary things like eating out, day trips, etc. If you get a lot of joy from spending $3 on a coffee at your favourite coffee shop twice a week and you'd really miss that then I'd suggest you carry on enjoying that but instead look to cut other costs or bigger costs like housing.

If you can move back in with your parents to save housing money then thats a fantastic option but I understand it's not an option for everyone as it wasn't for me. You could try and bulk make meals to save food costs. The list goes on.

I've managed to cut my overall costs back by around £250 a month and honestly I'm living the same standard of life and haven't notice a difference at all. The cheaper your life and the more money saved, the less financial pressure you will have.

Make yourself a clear budget when you are working towards leaving your job. Be firm and clear with yourself and try to always pay yourself first (ie put money into your savings straight away, unless you have debt, before spending anything on non essentials).

What other people think:

Something I've found is that other people, especially family, will have opinions and may try to deter you from leaving your job and even say that you're making a bad financial decision. Other people will be in awe that you are making such a big life decision and perhaps even a bit jealous. Telling the people you're closest to is perhaps the hardest part of leaving your job. All you can really do is explain why you're leaving whether that's because you really believe in setting up your own business or because you're deeply unhappy in your 9-5 and then explain that the decision wasn't taken lightly, you're put plans into place financially and you'd appreciate emotion support.

Actually leaving:

Once you're reached your financial tipping point whereby you're ready to leave then the only thing left to do is to hand in your notice, work out your notice period and say your farewells. This is obviously such an exciting yet scary part. You perhaps have been working towards this for months and months and actually doing it can seem overwhelming. Remember, you can always get another job in the future if things don't work out for you or if you want to after having a break.

If you are leaving to go onto starting a new business venture for yourself I would say be prepared to work longer hours and work harder than you did in your 9-5. Put everything you have into making things work for yourself. I'm working pretty much every day and way more than I did in my 9-5 (with some exceptions) but I love it, I'm feeling so fulfilled and happy and I love how flexible working for yourself is. Right now I am still using my savings but hey I was prepared for that. I'm determined to make this work and I think that's all I can do really.

I hope this blog post helps you to prepare fully for quitting your job!

Thanks for reading,

Hayley